The present invention relates generally to the field of information communications and more particularly to energy-conserving information communication apparatuses (including computers) kept alive through the least amount of energy technologically possible for establishing instant communications, to an energy-conserving operating system operable between an energy-conserving and a main operating state, to in Internet service provider or Internet communication system for providing requested communications, and to the methods therefor, so as to allow the energy-conserving information communication apparatuses to stay connected via the Internet, yet without requiring to stay online as seen in the conventional practice.
A modern computer system is mostly equipped with a modem for sending and receiving facsimile information as well as for gaining access to the Internet. Thus far, however, it cannot replace a typical fax machine because of its inconvenience in usage and inefficiency in power consumption. Inconvenience in usage is directly associated with the booting process of computer from a power-off state to an operating state, which is time consuming. In contrast, any fax machine is readily operable for receiving or transmitting facsimile information. With respect to power consumption, a conventional fax machine requires roughly 10 watts of power in order to maintain its standby state for detecting an incoming call. Much higher power consumption is expected for maintaining a conventional computer system at a corresponding standby state, in which its power supply unit (including a cooling fan), motherboard (including expansion cards), hard-disk drive, CD drive, and monitor will all incur various degrees of energy waste and will also reduce mechanical/electronic life expectancy due to mechanical rotation.
Recently, a great deal of effort has been made to conserve power usage in information-processing apparatuses, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,491,721 and 5,588,054 dealing with modems, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,713 dealing with computer systems. The prior arts basically improve power utilization after AC power is converted to regulated DC power through utilizing a power management processor to place a computer system selectively between a normal state and a standby state. However, improvement of a modem or a power-supply unit alone can neither enable a whole computer to operate more power-efficiently nor resolve the inconvenience mentioned hereinabove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,524 suggests a power supply system utilizing a command supply (i.e., switchable) to power both a fan and peripherals, which may not be desirable in view of U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,361 describing a fan controllable to dissipate heat discharged from its host CPU (central processing unit). Similar to other prior arts, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,524 also defines that its standby state represents the lowest power consumption mode for a computer system, equivalent to turning the computer off, and thus a user should save work in progress, close applications, and exit to the system prompt. In accordance with the conventional practice, consequently, no previous task or activity is restorable or resumable once a computer system enters the conventional standby state. To the contrary, it is highly desirable to maintain an application software program active so as to allow a computer system to be instantaneously and remotely accessible for receiving facsimile information once an incoming call is detected and so as to enable a user to instantaneously continue his/her unfinished tasks or files without reloading the software and the files. These features are attainable for a conventional computer continuously maintained at a sleep mode, but at the cost of incurring substantial energy waste as well as mechanical/electronic failure.
While U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,524 deals with supplying main power selectively to a system board as a whole, U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,694 discloses a new keyboard with a power control key and suggests that its system board is divided into three zones energized respectively by battery power, standby power, and main power. The former affords neither power conserving nor instantaneous accessibility because its system board as a whole is energized and de-energized, respectively. On the other hand, the latter defines that the elements energized selectively by main power are standard sub-system (such as RAMs, ROMs, disc drives), expansion buses, etc. Removal of the main power will save energy, but will also totally vaporize all vital information stored in the RAMs. As a result, any conventional computer needs to go through the booting procedure in order to re-find all of the necessary addresses from a hard-disk drive for reloading previously loaded software programs back to the RAMs. Because the booting procedure is timeconsuming, no conventional computer is instantaneously accessible for establishing communication once entering the conventional standby state.
Also well known is that a conventional PC power supply can only be turned on or off manually for either supplying or not supplying power. If to be idled for a prolonged period of time, a computer should be manually turned off rather than placed into a sleep mode in accordance with the conventional practice utilized in the Microsoft""s window operating system that is clearly embodied in a familiar screen display xe2x80x9cIt""s now safe to turn off your computer.xe2x80x9d Once turned off, however, it is simply inoperable. On the other hand, once turned on, it will continuously incur energy waste and shorten the life expectancy of a cooling fan even in the sleep mode.
It is the conventional practice from which communications between personal computers (PCs) and the Internet has thus evolved. However, the Internet allows only a PC to initiate a communication link to an Internet server for retrieving information therefrom or for transmitting e-mails therethrough, which is considered to be a passive mode of communications. Specifically, any e-mail has to send to a POP (post office protocol) server for storage and to idle therein for manual retrieval. In other words, the conventional practice does not allow anyone to be notified with the arrival of an e-mail unless he/she occurs to log onto the POP server. Likewise, even based on gateway software, the service of xe2x80x9cinstant messagexe2x80x9d offered by America Online Inc. is workable only for the PCs that are powered on and stayed online. The latter requires that a phone line be continuously occupied, which is impractical. Although communications between PCs may be achieved through a software program called Symantec PC anywhere, it is required that the conventional PCs be manually powered on for each use, which is also impractical and unacceptable as compared with the phone system. Another conventional example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,671 discloses a system for controlling data access in a computer network, in which a server is able to register xe2x80x9ca virtual telephone callxe2x80x9d from a subscriber telephone number to a service telephone number associated with the requested data stored in the server so as to bill the subscriber for his/her access at a preset charge. Because the data are stored in the server or the Internet, the virtual telephone call and utility of the prior patent are used only for establishing the charge, not for establishing communication with another client or PC. In essence, the conventional practice does not allow any power-off or even offline PCs to receive any information from the Internet, not mention to communicate directly with each other.
My allowed prior patent application (Ser. No. 09/026,032, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,175) discloses an energy-conserving power-supply system having keep-alive power and a control system for actuating the supply of either main DC power or AC power so as to maximize energy savings. My other patent application (Ser. No. 09/293,089, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,354) takes consideration of the shortcomings of the prior art mentioned hereinabove, providing a new type of line-operated or battery-operated computer for achieving not only optimized energy savings and extended battery life but instantaneous and remote accessibility, thus totally eliminating conventional, time-consuming, manual shutdown and booting processes, for the first time. The present application takes a further step to give birth to a next-generation information communication system or computer remotely reachable for establishing instant communications just like telephones. Not only will my present application allow the energy-conserving information communication apparatuses or computers to stay connected in a globe scale for establishing instant and direct communications, but it will greatly contribute to energy savings in view of their mass market.
Accordingly, a first primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide an energy-conserving computer system remotely reachable for establishing instant communications, comprising (a) switchable power-supply system comprising switching means for selectively distributing switchable power; (b) a group of switchable circuits coupled to the switchable power-supply system, comprising a main microprocessor and nonvolatile memory storage; (c) keep-alive power-supply system for continuously distributing keep-alive power; (d) a group of keep-alive circuits coupled to the keep-alive power-supply system, comprising keep-alive memory means, a keep-alive communication circuit, and keep-alive control means; and (e) keep-alive operating instructions provided for allowing the keep-alive control means to request the keep-alive communication circuit to detect a communication signal in a keep-alive state in which the switchable power-supply system is deactivated for conserving energy. The keep-alive communication circuit may be adapted to comprise circuitry means for performing data conversion between digital and analog signals in the keep-alive state. Preferably, the keep-alive control means is adapted to comprise a keep-alive microprocessor for controlling the keep-alive communication circuit and the keep-alive memory circuitry to respectively receive and store any incoming information having a size smaller than a storage size available on the keep-alive memory circuitry, so as to render the energy-conserving computer reachable and operable for establishing instant communication in the keep-alive state. The keep-alive operating instructions are provided for allowing the keep-alive control means to activate the switchable power-supply system to supply the switchable power to the main microprocessor selectively (i) if in response to detection of the communication signal, no communication link is able to be established within a predetermined period of time, (ii) if the nonvolatile memory storage needs to be accessed, or (iii) if a manually-activated power-up signal is detected. The group of switchable circuit means preferably comprises selectively (i) a switchable communication circuit rendered actuatable in response to the communication signal for establishing communication with a remote communication system, (ii) volatile memory storage for loading information randomly accessible to the main microprocessor, (iii) means actuatable for dissipating heat, and/or (iv) temperature-sensitive cooling means. Preferably, the keep-alive operating instructions stored in the keep-alive memory means comprise task information readily available to the keep-alive control means for restoring a plurality of main tasks from the nonvolatile memory storage to the volatile memory storage when the switchable power-supply system is activated for providing the switchable power. The switchable power may be AC power, regulated DC power, DC power, and their combinations. On the other hand, the keep-alive DC power may be provided or generated from a power source selected from the group consisting of a signal-transmitting medium carrying keep-alive power, an external AC-power source, battery, rechargeable battery, fuel-cell means, and their combinations. Preferably, the switchable power-supply system and the keep-alive power-supply system comprise separate power sources for providing the switchable power or the keep-alive DC power, so that power is always available from one source or another. In short, the energy-conserving computer system not only is remotely accessible at any time but conserves energy to the greatest extent.
A second primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide an energy-conserving communication apparatus remotely reachable for establishing instant communications, comprising (a) a switchable power-supply system comprising switching means for selectively providing switchable power; (b) a keep-alive power-supply system connectable with a signal-transmitting medium (such as a cable, optical fiber, hybrid fiber coaxial cable, CATV cable, and their combinations) that carries a keep-alive power source, for providing keep-alive power from the keep-alive power source; and (c) a group of keep-alive circuit means coupled to the keep-alive power-supply system, comprising (i) a keep-alive communication circuit coupled to the signal-transmitting medium, and (ii) keep-alive control means for controlling an activity of the switching means, so as to allow the energy-conserving communication apparatus to enter a keep-alive state in which the switchable power-supply system is deactivated while the keep-alive communication circuit remains operable for detecting a communication signal initiated from a remote communication system. The keep-alive power-supply system may further comprise an additional power source of battery for supplying backup keep-alive DC power. The switchable power may be AC power, regulated DC power, DC power, and their combinations provided or generated from a power source selected from the group consisting of an external AC-power source, battery, rechargeable battery, fuel-cell means, and their combinations. The energy-conserving communication apparatus may further comprise a group of switchable circuit means coupled to the switchable power-supply system, selectively including (i) a main microprocessor and nonvolatile memory storage operable when the switchable power-supply system is activated for providing the switchable power, (ii) means actuatable in response to the communication signal for printing incoming information, (iii) means actuatable (or temperature-sensitive) for dissipating heat, and/or (iv) a switchable communication circuit coupled to the signal-transmitting medium and rendered actuatable for establishing communication in response to detection of the communication signal. Preferably, the group of keep-alive circuit means further comprises (i) keep-alive memory circuitry and (ii) keep-alive operating instructions stored in the keep-alive memory circuitry for allowing the keep-alive control means to request the keep-alive communication circuit to detect the communication signal in a keep-alive state and to actuate the switchable communication circuit for establishing communication in detection of the communication signal. Accordingly, the energy-conserving communication apparatus is rendered remotely reachable for establishing instant communication utilizing only the power source of a typical phone line, for the first time.
A third primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide an energy-conserving operating system capable of selectively performing a keep-alive (or energy-conserving) operation and a main (or normal) operation. Specifically, comprised are the steps of (a) activating a set of keep-alive operating instructions continuously operable for governing when to activate a set of main operating instructions that requires more random access memory than the set of keep-alive operating instructions, so as to selectively enter an energy-conserving state and a main operating state; (b) powering down to the energy-conserving state in which the set of main operating instructions is rendered inoperable, if selectively detecting no activity for a preset period of time or detecting a power-down signal; and (c) powering up to the main operating state in which the set of main operating instructions is rendered operable, if detecting a power-up signal. Preferably, the set of keep-alive operating instructions is adapted to comprise a communication program operable in the energy-conserving state and/or the main operating state for requesting a keep-alive communication circuit to be activated for detecting a ring signal. The activating is adapted to load the set of keep-alive instructions to keep-alive random-access-memory circuitry (especially to a predetermined region or address) and wherein the powering up is adapted to restore the main operating instructions from nonvolatile memory storage to main random-access-memory circuitry (especially to another predetermined region or address) that can be powered selectively up or down. The set of keep-alive operating instructions is adapted to create keep-alive task information for restoring previous task activity when the powering up is executed, the keep-alive task information being created, updated, and saved to keep-alive random-access-memory circuitry and/or nonvolatile memory storage before the powering down is executed. Furthermore, the powering up is adapted to enter (i) a first operating state in which the set of main operating instructions will be restored via actuating nonvolatile memory storage for retrieving information therefrom to main random-access-memory circuitry, (ii) a second operating state in which information retrieval and storage will be limited to only the main random-access-memory circuitry, so as to execute the main operating instructions at full operating speed, and (iii) a third operating state in which any newly modified files will be stored from the main random-access-memory circuitry to the nonvolatile memory storage in detection of the power-down signal. Preferably, the powering down and the powering up are adapted respectively to deactivate and to activate a switchable power-supply system for not providing and for providing power main microprocessor circuitry and volatile memory circuitry utilized for execution of the main operating instructions, so as to enter the energy-conserving state and the main operating state, respectively. The powering down is further adapted to be executed after any newly modified files are stored to nonvolatile memory storage. Further comprised are (i) a step of allocating part of keep-alive random-access-memory circuitry for storing incoming information to be received in the energy-conserving state, (ii) a step of powering up to a communication state in which a switchable power-supply system is activated to provide a switchable power supply only to a switchable communication circuit and nonvolatile memory storage for respectively receiving and storing incoming information to be received, if only a ring signal is detected, and (iii) a step of allowing a user to request a forwarding or routing service.
A fourth primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide an Internet communication system comprising (a) communication means connected to the Internet and rendered operable for sending a ring signal and thus for initiating an outgoing communication link to an offline communication device; (b) a control system for controlling operation of the communication means; and (c) operating instructions available to the control system for requesting the communication means to send the ring signal in accordance with a request submitted through an incoming communication link from a remote communication device, so as to allow the Internet communication system to provide requested communication from the remote communication device to the offline remote communication device via the Internet. Herein the offline remote communication device may be a server computer, a desktop computer, a portable computer, a notebook computer, a wireless phones, or a cellular phone each comprising a respective communication circuit that stays normally in an offline state capable of receiving an incoming ring signal. Preferably, the communication means comprises a communication-link means such as a telephone line, cable, optical fiber, hybrid fiber coax, cellular phone channel, satellite communication channel, wireless communication channel, and their combinations, for initiating a plurality of the outgoing communication links. The communication means is further adapted to comprise a plurality of local communication circuitry connected to the Internet at separate locations, each of the local communication circuitry being rendered operable for initiating a plurality of the outgoing communication links and for establishing another plurality of the incoming communication links. The operation instructions are adapted to selectively comprise (i) a step of selecting one of the local communication circuitry that is situated at a location with an area code in accordance with the request to send the ring signal to the offline remote communication device, or (ii) a step of automatically terminating the outgoing communication link selectively if the remote communication device terminates the incoming or the outgoing communication link, or if the Internet communication system completes the sending of requested information to the offline remote communication device and detects no activity on the outgoing communication link for a preset period of time. The Internet communication system may further comprise memory storage for storing information to be transmitted between the remote communication device and the offline remote communication device. The operating instructions are provided for requesting the communication means to send a message to the offline remote communication device through the outgoing communication link to instantly notify the delivering of the information.
A fifth primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method for enabling an Internet service provider to provide requested communications, comprising the steps of (a) providing communication means operable (i) for establishing an incoming communication link to the Internet when receiving an incoming ring signal from a remote communication device and (ii) for initiating an outgoing communication link through sending an outgoing ring signal to an offline remote communication device; (b) providing a control system for controlling operation of the communication means; and (c) providing operating instructions rendered available to the control system for instructing the communication means to send the outgoing ring signal and thus to initiate the outgoing communication link in accordance with a request submitted from the remote communication device, so as to allow the remote communication device to communicate with the offline remote communication device via the Internet. The step of providing communication means is adapted to provide a plurality of local communication circuitry connected to the Internet at separate locations, each of the local communication circuitry being further rendered operable for establishing a plurality of the incoming communication links and for initiating another plurality of the outgoing communication links. The step of providing operation instructions is adapted to provide a step of selecting one of the local communication circuitry that is situated at a location with an area code in accordance with the request to send the outgoing ring signal to the offline remote communication device, at the rate of a local call or a reduced rate. The method may further comprise a step of providing a forwarding or routing service.
A sixth primary preferred embodiment of the present invention is to provide a communication operating system for enabling an Internet communication system to provide requested communication links, the communication operating system comprising the steps of (a) allowing the Internet communication system to establish a plurality of incoming communication links each to be initiated by a remote communication apparatus to access the Internet; (b) determining if the remote communication apparatuses each submits a request for communicating further with an offline communication apparatus; and (c) if yes, instructing the Internet communication system to send an outgoing ring signal to a respective one of the offline communication apparatuses accordingly so as to establish another plurality of outgoing communication links. The communication operating system may further afford a forwarding or routing service.